Mail-bag



T. J. MAYO. Mail Bag.

No. 230,308. x Patented July 20, 18 80..

WITNESSES: INVENTOR (go-coa 2E.

ATTORNEYS.

",PETERS. FNOTO-LITMOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. D C,

' UNITED STATES PATENT Frios.

THOMAS J. MAYO, OF PAINTSVILLE, KENTUCKY.

MAIL-BAG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 230,308, dated July 20,1880.

Application filed February 12, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. MAYO, of Paintsville, in the county ofJohnson and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and ImprovedMail-Bag; and I do hereby declare that the following is afnll, clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in whichFigure 1 is a side view. Fig. 2 is a perspective of one-half of the bagcut through the line :0 an of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of thebag, showing the parts of the fastening when disconnected.

My invention relates to an improved form of mail-bag for horsebackroutes, designed to facilitate the packing of mail matter therein andits removal therefrom.

In the old form ofmail-bag one side is made straight and the other sidecurved inwardly, so as to make the bag narrowest in the middle, with theends enlarged to form pouches, while the opening through which the mailis inserted or removed is along the straight edge. With this form of bagthere is a great annoyance to the operator in not being able to see whathe is doing in placing in or removing the mail matter. There is also agreat waste of time in putting in and taking out the mail, which is animportant item when the time for this work is limited, as is frequentlythe case. The mail matter cannot be packed compactly, so as to utilizethe greatest capacity of the bag, and the indiscriminate crammingresults frequently in serious damage to many articles contained in themails. In using the present bag, also, there is danger of letters andregistered packages being left in the foldsof the bag and not removed atthe proper office.

My invention is designed to obviate these objections; and to this end itconsists in making this form of bag with a rectangular flap whose longside is parallel with the straight side of the bag, and whose ends arearrangedtransversely to the bag, and combining therewith staples andthree straps arranged at right angles forfastenin g the three sides ofsaid flap.

The invention also consists in the peculiar means for closing the'edgesof the openingin the bag, as hereinafter fully described.

In the drawings, A represents the mail-bag, which has one straight side,one curved side, and the two end pouches, as heretofore constructed. V

Instead of a straight opening at the straight edge, I form a rectangularline of opening, the long and straight side a being parallel with thestraight side of the bag, and the short sides I) being at right anglesto the length of the bag, so that the portion 0 becomes a flap that isfolded toward the curved side of the bag in gaining access to theinterior. This construction allows the operator to have access to everypart of the bag, and to see what he is doing therein in packing orunpacking, the said operator standing on the curved side of the bag withhis body pressed close up against the same, so as to bring every part ofthe bag within range of his hands. This construction also permitsanother person on the opposite side to assist, which could not be donewith the old form.

In forming the joint at the opening of the bag, (see Fig. 2,) I attachto one side, 6, of the two adjacent edges a flap, d, and to the otherside,'c, I fasten two flaps, d d, between which the flap d is folded.

The flap d is made double and is bent parallel with itself, with oneside permanently attached to the edge e of the bag, and with the otherside free and adapted to be passed between flaps d d. All of these flapsd and d have staple-eyes through them, and upon the edge e of the bagare fastened staples j, that pass through and are re-enforced by thepermanent side of flap (1, and then pass through said eyes, while astrap, (0, on the outside passes through the staples and secures theflaps in place.

The three sides I) a b of the opening in the bag are secured by thethree straps b a b, crossing each other at the corners at right angles,and are fastened at one end by a padlock.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is side, 0, ofthe bag, and adapted to receive the free side of flap 01', together withthe strap a, and the staples secured in the side 6 and reenforced by thepermanent side of the flap d,

as described.

THOMAS JEFFERSON MAYO.

\Vitnesses J. F. STEWART, H. F. STRONG.

